Janesville, Wisconsin

November 15, 1857

Father, Mary & I went to Janesville to Church in A.M. Went to Institute to church in PM 1st sermon in their new "chapel." Eld. Wm. Douglas preached very well. Ab't 20 persons present (beside the Inst, "people.") 

The Willard family moved to Janesville, Wisconsin in 1846 when Frances Willard was just seven years old.  Most of her childhood memories occurred in Wisconsin between the Willard family home and their local church.  This geographical location inspired the young Frances Willard to consider her local community in her early desire to promote education and social change.  Janesville, Wisconsin provided one of the earliest and most significant influences of Frances Willard’s childhood, especially in family relationships, religion, and early education.

It is important to consider Frances Willard’s life before her emergence on the world stage.  Her life before Evanston impacted the ways in which she approached socio-political reform as an adult.  This excerpt demonstrates a few of the ways in which Frances Willard became impacted by her hometown in Janesville.  She discussed her family, their church, and even briefly analyzed the sermon saying, “Eld. Wm. Douglas preached very well.”

One of the most defining characteristics of Frances Willard remained her constant devotion to education and the process of self-betterment.  Willard’s mother, Mary Thompson Hill Willard, became the first teacher that she ever learned from.  As a hallmark of Willard’s legacy, understanding her earliest connections to education helps contextualize the role that she assumed throughout her career.  The intersection of family, knowledge, and religion all met for the first time in a significant way in Janesville, where Frances Willard’s story began to take shape.